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Notice of appeal filed in high-rise death case

By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS

Associated Press

TULSA (AP) — The new attorneys for a 21-year-old Tulsa woman found guilty of second-degree murder for pushing her husband through a 25th-floor window filed notice Wednesday that they plan to appeal her case.

Amber Hilberling was sentenced last week to 25 years in prison for the 2011 death of her husband, Joshua Hilberling. Prosecutors argued she was enraged because her husband planned to leave her, but her attorneys argued it was a tragic accident and blamed “unusually thin” windows in the couple’s downtown apartment.

Her new attorney, Clark Brewster, said he was first approached by her family shortly after the 2011 incident, but that he declined to take the case because he was too busy at the time. But he said the outcome of the trial was unjust.

“When the verdict came back, I was just gut-sick because I felt it was an injustice and, had we been involved, we might have been able to make a difference,” he said Wednesday.

Brewster said jurors were only allowed to hear some facts of the case. He also said his client, who was seven months pregnant at the time, had “no murderous intent” when she pushed her husband.

First Assistant District Attorney Doug Drummond called the verdict “fair and just based on the circumstances” of the case.

“The 12-member jury listened to all of the evidence, including Ms. Hilberling’s testimony and previous statements,” he said in a statement Wednesday. ”The jury deliberated and concluded unanimously that Ms. Hilberling was guilty of second-degree murder. The jury also decided that 25 years was a just punishment for the death of Joshua Hilberling.”

The jury deliberated for less than three hours in March before finding Hilberling guilty and recommending a 25-year prison sentence, which the trial judge imposed last week.

At Hilberling’s sentencing, her attorneys pleaded with the judge to show some leniency because she was seven months pregnant and just 19 years old when she shoved her 23-year-old husband.

During the trial, Hilberling took the stand in her own defense, frequently sobbing as she told jurors she and her husband started arguing in their bedroom about splitting up and that the fight ended up in the living room. Hilberling said she feared for her safety as the dispute escalated.

But prosecutors picked Hilberling’s testimony apart, including questioning whether one push from her would be enough to cause her husband — a 6-foot-4-inch, 220-pound ex-football player — to fall through a glass window. Detectives testified earlier in the trial that they saw no signs of a physical struggle in the couple’s apartment.